“It was a tough night for us, but it is not all lost. We still have some opportunities and options open to us,” Libous, of Binghamton, said.

“The voters of this state sent a very loud and clear message last night that they want to see Democrats in control of the state Senate,” retorted Gianaris, of Queens.

Here are the six things that will decide who actually controls the chamber majority.

(1) There needs to be a clear winner in the 46th District.

Cecilia Tkaczyk, a Democrat from Duanesburg finished 139 votes ahead of Republican Assemblyman George Amedore on election night, but the race can’t be concluded until some 7,500 paper ballots can be counted.

Generally, the paper ballots — both absentee and affidavit — follow the same trends as the Election Day voting. That was the case with a recent GOP primary recount between Sen. Roy McDonald and Saratoga County Clerk Kathy Marchione — the tally barely moved after 1,000 ballots were counted.

Gianaris was quick to point this out, but Libous said the incredibly small margin could be overcome.

While the Democrats may have had a good ‘ground game’ with the Obama massacre, we have a good absentee program,” he said.

Both campaigns have hired lawyers, and Amedore on Wednesday asked a Montgomery County judge to impound all the election materials in the five-county district. The judge will likely set up a schedule for counting, with any ballot either campaign finds objectionable getting laid aside. If there’s no clear winner, the judge will decide which ballots to open, and a winner will eventually be certified.

With most precincts reporting, Democrats were on track to defend seats their party controls in Queens and Westchester County as well as oust Sen. Steve Saland, R-Poughkeepsie. Democrat Terry Gipson eked out a 1,600 vote lead in that Hudson Valley district, where Saland’s Republican base was split by a challenge from Neil DiCarlo, who ran on the Conservative Party line fueled by opposition to Saland’s 2011 vote to legalize same-sex marriage.

But if all three of these wins are affirmed, along with Democrat Ted O’Brien’s clear win in a Rochester-area seat now held by retiring Republican Sen. Jim Alesi, the Democrats will stand at 31 seats.

(3) What will the IDC do?

Of course, that number assumes the mainstream Democratic conference reconciles with the four-member Independent Democratic Conference. The IDC split from its former colleagues in early 2011, and the renegade quartet subsequently backed Republicans on several key votes. In turn, it was rewarded with perks including a suite of Capitol offices.

The driving force behind the IDC is Bronx Sen. Jeff Klein, whose ambition to serve as Senate majority leader is well known. By seceding, his has positioned the mini-conference to play kingmaker as individual senators — including Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Long Island, and various Democrats, possibly including Gianaris — work to cobble together the 32 necessary votes to be elected leader.

Klein, his spokesman and his IDC colleagues have been quiet, unsurprisingly. A spokesman, Eric Soufer, released a statement on their behalf: “We’re humbled that so many New Yorkers came out yesterday to cast a ballot in support of the IDC’s policy-driven agenda. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, New York families and businesses need a strong, stable government now more than ever. We look forward to getting back to the people’s business right away.”

Meanwhile both Democrats and Republicans are sucking up.

“Jeff Klein and I have a great relationship,” Libous said this morning. “I would say Jeff Klein and I talk quite a bit. I can’t say we talked this morning but we certainly have had conversations over the past week.”

He has in the past said the IDC could be counted on if the overall chamber tally was close. While IDC members and their former colleagues have engaged in several political pissing matches, the mainstream Democrats were equally sweet of late — and tacitly warning that if their partisan brethren backed Republicans, they would face a tough road to re-election.

“The voters made it very clear what they want. I would think anyone who got elected last night on the Democratic line would heed,” said Gianaris.

“I would like Democrats to be able to work together for the good of the State of New York,” said Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan.

Don’t expect this to get sorted out any time soon — Klein’s leverage will increase as time goes on. In 2008, the so-called “Four Amigos” withheld their support for then-Democratic leader Malcolm Smith until January, eventually agreeing to fall in line when they were offered plum leadership positions.

And the overall tally of the chamber matters, too, so I don’t expect there will be any major action until the Tkaczyk-Amedore contest is settled. As Mike Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, put it: “I’m sure it’s going to be a drama worthy of Shakespeare. They all want to see what’s going to happen tonight, and no one wants to show their cards unless they have to.”

(4) What will Simcha Felder do?

Democrat Simcha Felder won an easy victory Tuesday against Republican Sen. David Storobin, but it’s unclear if he will immediately fall in line or if he, too, will try to leverage plums and perks for the privilege of his support.

Felder has said he was open to conferencing with the GOP, but told the New York Post on Monday, “nothing has changed in the last six months since I announced my candidacy. I said I would caucus with any party that will allow me to deliver the most to the 17th Senate district and its constituents.”

Asked by reporter Erik Kriss if that meant sitting with whoever wins the majority, Felder said “yes.”

Gianaris seized on that statement, and said that with Tkaczyk’s win Democrats will have a majority. Libous also included Felder as part of the GOP’s path to maintain its grip on power.

“Simcha Felder has said that he will do what’s in the best interests of his people,” said Libous. “That seat was 33, I would think that that seat would stay with us and be 32 after Amedore wins.”

There were plenty of reports of chaotic voting situations in New York City, so don’t be surprised to see litigation — particularly in the Addabbo-Ulrich race, but also in Latimer’s contest against Republican Bob Cohen.

Said Libous: “It’s going to be a long time before they dig through that and figure out where all the votes are, and I expect there will be legal challenges.”

It’s quite a long shot that any suit might prompt more voting, but it’s still an outside possibility.

(6) What will Gov. Andrew Cuomo do?

Cuomo, a Democrat, enjoys incredible popularity around the state and, by virtue of his office, has considerable political clout. If he weighs in publicly or takes private actions to help either Democrats or Republican, it could have a profound impact on how the Senate settles.

I think it’s likely he will do so, because as I’ve said before, chaos is not Cuomonian and the Senate is unsettled, to say the least.

You might think it would be a no-brainer for a Democratic governor to actively try and flip a house of the Legislature to his party’s column, but Cuomo has treaded extremely lightly in the Senate races. He ignored a call to help Tkaczyk. He actively endorsed Saland, as a return favor for his vote to support same-sex marriage, and stood down as Republicans drew new district lines that critics said maximized their partisan advantage.

It can be argued that Cuomo benefits from have a split Legislature. It allows him to balance partisan interests and play the part of Solomonic centrist and also gives him cover on issues he’d rather not address.

Gianaris said that the Senate leadership is the “province of the Legislature” and that Cuomo will “have to determine for himself how he handles that.”

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